A Real Marriage Certificate

Malcolm

I immediately sat up from the bed, convinced for a moment that my lack of sleep was finally starting to mess with my head because there was absolutely no way Sebastian had just called to tell me that I was married.

“What the hell did you just say?” I asked sharply, my voice still rough from sleep.

“Sir,” Sebastian said again carefully, “a blog released a report claiming you’re married, and they uploaded a marriage certificate as proof.”

For a few seconds, I actually laughed.

Not because it was funny, but because the entire thing sounded too ridiculous to be real.

“That’s impossible, Sebastian,” I muttered while rubbing my forehead slowly as a headache already began creeping in. “I’ve never been married in my life, so this is obviously another baseless rumor.”

Scandals attached to my name were nothing new.

Over the years, different women had tried all sorts of tricks just to gain attention through my name or blackmail me publicly. A while ago, one woman even tried claiming her child belonged to me simply because the boy shared the same eye color as I did.

The DNA results exposed her lies soon enough.

Naturally, I sued her afterward.

So this?

This could easily be another desperate scheme from someone looking for money or relevance.

“Take the damn certificate down and everything will settle,” I added impatiently, already ready to end the call when Sebastian suddenly stopped me again.

“Sir… I already handled that part, but the certificate itself looks real.”

That immediately made my expression darken.

Sebastian was not the type to panic unnecessarily, and if he was sounding this serious, then whoever orchestrated this nonsense clearly knew what they were doing.

“Fine,” I said coldly. “Send it to me.”

A few seconds later, my phone buzzed.

The moment I opened the file, my brows slowly furrowed because staring back at me was an actual marriage certificate carrying my full name boldly across it.

And beneath it…

My signature.

For a moment, I simply stared at the document carefully, trying to remember if I had ever signed something like that before, but no matter how hard I thought about it, nothing came to mind.

Because I was certain I had never knowingly signed a marriage certificate in my life.

Then my eyes shifted toward the date.

Two years ago.

My jaw tightened slightly.

What the hell was this?

And beside my name sat the name of the woman I was supposedly married to.

Imogen Fisher.

I scoffed lightly under my breath.

What kind of name even was that?

I immediately called Sebastian back, my patience already beginning to wear dangerously thin.

“The more I look at this document, the less it feels like a joke,” I said coldly once he answered.

“Sir, what’s our next course of action?” Sebastian asked cautiously.

“Find whoever pulled this stunt,” I ordered sharply while tightening my grip around the phone. “I don’t care what it takes. I want names, backgrounds, everything.”

“Of course, sir. The team is already working on it.”

“That’s not enough,” I snapped immediately. “I also want confirmation from the magistrate court itself. Find out whether this marriage was truly registered and send every detail back to me.”

“Yes, sir.”

I ended the call afterward before staring at the certificate again.

No matter how many times I looked at it, that signature was undeniably mine.

Which only made the entire situation more frustrating.

Had I really signed something carelessly two years ago without paying attention?

No matter how hard I tried to remember, I simply could not wrap my head around it.

By the time I was on my way to work, the news had already spread across almost every major blog online.

Billionaire CEO Secretly Married.

The headlines were everywhere.

Thankfully, the actual marriage certificate had already been removed from the web before things got even worse.

Now all I needed was for Sebastian to return with proof that this entire thing was fake.

Unfortunately, waiting had never been one of my strengths.

By the time I arrived at the company, my mood had already darkened considerably.

One of my secretaries quickly rushed over the moment I stepped inside.

“Good morning, sir,” he greeted nervously while following behind me.

I simply nodded once.

“The CEO of Atelier Corp has agreed to our demands.”

“I expected that much,” I replied indifferently as we stepped into the elevator because under normal circumstances, news like that would have interested me.

Today, I honestly could not care less.

The moment I entered my office, I sat impatiently behind my desk while tapping my fingers repeatedly against the surface as I waited for Sebastian.

The second the intercom rang, I pressed the button immediately.

“Mr. Sebastian is here, sir.”

“Send him in.”

A few moments later, Sebastian walked into my office, but the second I saw the expression on his face, something inside me immediately tightened because that look alone already told me everything before he even spoke.

“That,” I said slowly while narrowing my eyes at him, “is not the expression I expected to see.”

Sebastian swallowed nervously before handing the documents over to me.

“It turns out the certificate is legitimate, sir.”

For a few seconds, I simply stared at him before snatching the documents from his hand while my eyes quickly scanned through every seal, signature and record in disbelief.

Everything was real.

“And what exactly did you find on this so-called Imogen?” I asked coldly while lifting my eyes back to him.

“I’m afraid her name is the only thing we currently have, sir.”

That immediately set me off.

“And what exactly am I supposed to do with only her name?” I snapped furiously while throwing the documents back toward him, causing them to hit his chest before falling to the floor. “Do you have any idea how many women could share that same name? Or am I supposed to line them all up and start searching for my supposed wife one after another?”

Sebastian lowered his head slightly before speaking again.

“No matter what I tried, sir, the court refused to release more information, even after I mentioned your name. Whoever did this clearly has powerful connections.”

The moment he said that, my expression froze slightly.

Powerful connections?

Only one person immediately came to mind.

My grandmother.

Evelyn Grayson.

If not her, then how exactly was someone able to gain access to my signature and personal legal records without my knowledge?

I slowly leaned back into my chair while anger steadily built inside me.

For years, my grandmother had pressured me endlessly about marriage because I was the last Grayson left.

And although I understood her fears after losing both my parents, commitment was never something I wanted for myself.

For someone like me, marriage felt more like a weakness than anything else.

But if she truly orchestrated something like this…

Then she had crossed a very dangerous line.

“I suppose,” I muttered coldly while clenching my fists tightly, “I’ll be paying my grandmother a visit today.”